Well... I actually had this finished during my free class today, but after I had finished it... I realized it was too early for something like that... so... I had to rewrite the entire ending and though it perturbed me to no end, I still like how it came out. Sure it's not as good as the original because well... it was fun to go on about how I left it. Sorry you guys don't get to read it, but it really is too soon. Who knows, I might actually work this scene in later on when it will actually fit. But hey, aren't you proud of me? It only took me two weeks to update this time :) ... though what's strange... is it feels weird to be updating this soon, haha oh well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Concrete Angel

Chapter Eight:

He opened the door cautiously, knowing it to be better to enter through the front rather than the back or the basement. The door barely squeaked today, and he crept into the kitchen. Thankfully it was empty but clean it was not. Pieces of broken bowls and glass were scattered about the floor, counters and table; one of the cabinet doors was off its hinges; and a few of the drawers had previously been flung across the room, causing them to break apart. "Wow... she must have been furious..." Naruto now shook nervously, picturing him in pieces after been tossed across the room, just like one of the drawers or bowls.

Carefully he maneuvered around the broken articles to the other side of the kitchen, where the door to the basement was. But just as he put his hand on the doorknob, he heard footsteps from the living room. He gulped as he could feel the anger and hatred rush over him, followed by the horrible scent of alcohol.

"We've you been?" his aunt's words were slurred, and her footstep's uneven.

Naruto was now so terrified that he couldn't take his hand off the doorknob and he barely dared to breathe.

"Look at... me when I'm... talking to you," Emi's drunken voice was laced in fury and Naruto could feel the intensity of her glare on his back. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not bring himself to turn around.

Her sounds got closer, she was but a few feet away and Naruto shook uncontrollably. "I-I-I'm sorry... I-"

"You've been out... ruinin my... repu-reputation... brat... haven't you," His aunt accused, her voice hardly recognizable to anyone who was not used to it in this state.

"N-no... Emi-san... I-I... wasn't... I..." Naruto's voice trembled in fear, he knew there was no use in explaining things to her. She wouldn't listen even if she were sober. So the blond gave up fighting to keep his voice stable and closed his eyes tight, preparing himself for impact.

It didn't take long. A few more look-at-me-brat's and she began throwing anything near her at him. A lamp that just barely missed his head, a wooden figurine that hit him in the back, a few larger pieces of the broken kitchenware that no doubt caused her own hands to bleed. Naruto winced against the pain one of the pieces caused as if shredded into a sensitive area on the back of his leg.

"You worthless... piece... of trash... why couldn't... your mother... have killed you!" Every few words were enhanced by some sort of object being thrown toward the blond. He was lucky that her horrible aim was even worse when she was drunk.

Naruto's hands clenched and he squeezed the doorknob so hard that it heated up when a hard figurine, luckily having no sharp points, hit him in the small of his back.

"It's all... your fault! Damn... you!"

The blond bit his lower lip until he tasted blood. Even though most objects missed, he winced at everything she threw, imagining the worst if one actually did hit him in a crucial area.

Soon the projectiles stopped, but her cruel words didn't as she grabbed him by the shoulders, prying him away from the door and tossed him with great force into the now half empty glass case. He groaned in agony as the glass, wood and figurines jabbed into his body. Her face, the room, and her words all blurred into one as he was once again thrown across the room, only to find himself slamming into the basement door which creaked loudly at the pressure. It had never been a very strong door but currently Naruto wasn't concerned. He was preoccupied with his aunt and his head which now bled. Before he had a chance to steady himself, his shoulders were once again taken hold of and he was rocked back and forth fiercely, causing his head to bang repeatedly and painfully against the door. Very soon, the weak door groaned in protest against the weight and began to crack.

Each impact was so fierce that his breath was forced out of his lungs and he could barely cry out in pain. His eyes dulled and glazed over, blood leaked down his neck, and he lost all will to guard himself as consciousness slowly slipped away from his grasp.

With one last blow, the door broke away from its hinges and the barely attentive Naruto started to fall backwards. Emi stumbled forwards but managed to release the damaged blond, so that he didn't drag her down, and just barely regained balance when she stepped down one step.

Naruto just managed to grab the railing with his right hand. He winced as his legs fell out from under him and his chest and face hit the weak steps hard. They cracked slightly down the middle but somehow held. Wearily, the blond gazed up at his aunt, though he did this stealthily for he tried to appear unconscious in hope she would leave him as is.

Luckily, since she was so drunk out of her mind, Emi merely glared and gave up, stumbling back to the room from which she came.

Once she was out of view, Naruto let out a long, relieved sigh and released the railing from his grasp. But other than that, he did not move. He was hurting too badly, his head bleeding, his ribs broken, face bruised and because he had grabbed the railing instead of plummeting to his doom, his arm tore out of its socket.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to ignore the incomprehensible pain. He'd put himself back together after he'd rested there for a little while. Hopefully Emi wouldn't return that night, perhaps drinking herself into a comatose state instead.

Sasuke grumbled as he walked down the empty hallway of the school. Tenten had dragged him into this stupid meeting and roped him into helping out with a student council dinner theatre, he apparently was going to be building the set along with a few others. This hour long meeting, which Tenten assured him would only take a moment, was the reason Sasuke hadn't walked Naruto home from school that day. So all through the meeting he had been fidgety, anxious, and worried over the blond. He had been a day late in getting back home and Sasuke could only hope that his aunt had not noticed his absence.

He sped up his pace without realizing and was currently strutting down the street in the direction of Naruto's house. His gut was giving him a bad feeling and all he knew at the moment was that he needed to get to Naruto's just in case...

The raven approached the rather nice looking house with caution. He didn't know if he should be there... what if his presence caused further harm -if he'd receive any- to the one he loved. Despite the doubt, his legs led him up the steps, onto the oak porch and to the front door. He was surprised by how clean and content the house looked. By Naruto's tattered/poor appearance you would assume the house was a badly maintained, rotting shed. It was obvious Emi was not only aggressive but greedy as well. She most definitely kept the money passed down from Naruto's parents, which was known to be a lot since both of his parents had been rich. Though his father's money was legal, his mother's was from the murders of innocents. He scowled at the woman who was not presently in his view as his hand found the doorknob.

Sasuke's heart just about flew into his throat when the opened door revealed chaos. Everything was awry. Glass, wood, figurines, dishes - Eyes widened, heart stopped - blood! Without thinking the raven rushed over to where the blood had splattered in a different doorway. It was like looking through another person's eyes and he was seeing himself stoop over the blood that he could only guess belong to-

Naruto! Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight of the motionless bloody, blond sprawled out across the basement steps. "Naruto! Holy Fuck!" He bolted halfway down the steps, cautiously after he just about fell through the second one, and knelt down at Naruto's head. "Oh god, please be alive!" Sasuke could barely process a coherent thought as he felt for the boy's pulse. A relieved sigh was released when he found one, weak as it may be.

Beneath him, the blond grunted and moved slightly.

"Naruto!" The raven almost screamed, glad he was conscious.

"...sas...sasu...ke?" he barely breathed.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here Naruto. I'll get you out of here."

"...n...no...I...c...can...can't..." He struggled to sit up but with one arm out of commission, broken ribs and a concussion it was pretty damn hard.

"Yes you can, I'll take you to the hospital, get you help."

"...no!" Naruto groaned strongly. He couldn't leave, didn't Sasuke understand that? He had no where, no one.

"Here, let me help," He ignored Naruto's resistance and helped him sit up, noticing his loose arm in the process.

"Can... you..?" The blond didn't finish, just nodded to his right arm.

"Um..." he nodded, closing his eyes as he snapped the joint back into place with a loud, spine chilling crick.

Naruto cried in pain, feeling dizzy again and swaggered to show it.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed with concern, "Come on. I'm getting you out of here." He attempted to help the blond up by his elbow but he stayed firmly on the steps. "Naruto?"

"No, I can't."

"You're bleeding from the head and hell knows what else is broken!" He touched his arm at this, "I'm taking you to the hospital!" The raven tried to keep his voice calm but he was getting very impatient. How could Naruto think he needed to stay where violence was! He had to get out before it too late.

"She'll know... if I go to the hospital... she'll know..." Naruto's voice quavered with fear and nervousness.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, he just wanted to get him away from Emi right now. "Fine. I'll bring you to my house then."

"No... Sasuke... it'll hurt me more." He shut his eyes tightly to fight against the oncoming tears. He knew Sasuke just wanted to help him, and he wanted to return to his house, but Emi would hunt him down, she wouldn't allow it and he'd be hurt worse.

"Please, Naruto. Let me help you." Sasuke pleaded.

"It'll help me to stay. To not annoy her further." Naruto tried in vain to calm him.

"But you can't stay like this." The raven brushed his hand gently over Naruto's bloody locks, keeping his distance from any area that might be injured.

"Once she's drunk herself to sleep, I can go clean up." Naruto assured him. He'd been doing this for years, and even though this was one of the more damaging experiences, he knew what he was doing.

Sasuke was of course skeptical but nodded reluctantly. He didn't want to give into Naruto's fear but he wasn't about to force him to do anything, even if it was for good. "All right. But I'm staying."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest but was silenced with a stern look from cold, yet caring eyes. "Fine..." He sighed, lowering his head in defeat.

Sorry it's a rather short chapter, I would have written more but I have rehearsal to run off to now and I didn't want you guys to wait until tomorrow night.